1. Field of the Invention
The invention, in general, relates to an apparatus for charging flowing liquid media, for the aeration and/or gas injection thereof, with a gas and, more particularly, for the activation or restoration of bodies of water and for the inducement of chemical and biochemical reactions.
2. The Prior Art
It is known to inject gases into, or to aerate, liquid media and, in particular, sewage by the injection of compressed air from rigid or rotating nozzles submersed in the flowing liquid medium.
The drawback of using rotating nozzles is that they require significant expenditures in terms of equipment for compressor plants, agitators or raking apparatus as well as construction.
The use of rigid or stationary jets disposed at the bottom of a tank or liquid body suffers from the disadvantage that such nozzles are quickly soiled or congested by sedimentation so that their effectiveness and the overall performance of the equipment is reduced.
Furthermore, ejectors or ejector nozzles aerators are known which are operated by high-pressure pumps. The disadvantage of such apparatus is that special fluids are required in case the solids contents or viscosity of the treated liquid are too high.
A drawback common to all known apparatus is that in addition to requiring extensive expenditures in terms of equipment they consume large amounts of energy and require frequent maintenance.
It is a general object of the invention to provide an apparatus for aerating, or injecting gas into, flowing liquid media
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind referred to which may be realized with relatively insignificant expenditures in terms of equipment.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind referred to which may be operated at low levels of power consumption.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind referred to which for its operation draws upon the energy of flow inherent in treated flowing liquid.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an aeration or gas injection apparatus the low energy consumption of which results from making additional use of the kinetic inherent in the energy of flow of the treated liquid.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an aeration and gas injection apparatus which is durable and reliable.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for aerating, or injecting a gas into, a liquid which yields the lowest possible energy consumption at the lowest possible economic expenditure.
In the accomplishment of these and other objects, the invention provides an apparatus for charging a liquid medium with a gas.